Elizabeth McDonald’s Weblog

I have now written about 1700 words of my lit review. It is very much in draft mode but coming along nicely. Here it is…

Striving for Joint Goals: The ABC and Emergency Services in Victoria

Topic Question
How effective has the ABC been in fulfilling its role as the official emergency broadcaster in Victoria, and what can be done to improve the relationship between the ABC, emergency services and their stakeholders?

Abstract
Every year throughout the bushfire season in Victoria, difficulties arise surrounding the dissemination of information to the public. 2007 marked the tenth anniversary of the ABC working as official emergency broadcaster in Victoria. It is essential to investigate the effectiveness of the agreement and the way in which the relationship between the ABC and emergency services in Victoria can move forward. A successful policy will not only benefit the ABC, but emergency services staff and residents affected by bushfires in Victoria.

Scope
The research will cover time period between 1997 and present, as that was the year the ABC became official emergency broadcaster. The focus will be on Victoria predominantly, with a specific focus on East Gippsland and the fires in 2006.

The study will reach people from emergency services branches, the media (particularly ABC staff e.g. producers, journalists, news chiefs) and residents from the East Gippsland region who may have been affected by the 2006 bushfires.

The four predominant areas the study will cover include:
1. The role of the ABC as official emergency broadcaster
2. The best ways to communicate messages to effected residents during
bushfires
3. A case study on East Gippsland (particularly Omeo, Heyfield, Licola
areas) to evaluate the effectiveness of the media during the 2006 bushfires
4. The most effective ways of communication via the radio during a bushfire

Methodology
The research will involve four methodologies:

1. Secondary reading – bushfire research, ABC bushfire policy, communication during community crisis and recovery
2. Interviews with ABC staff:
- Ian Mannix – ABC bushfires coordinator SA
- Journalists, producers and news room staff at regional stations
3. Interviews with emergency services staff including DSE, CFA and Police
4. Case study on one regional town:
- Meetings with emergency services staff in that town
- Focus Group – with residents in the town, focusing on how they believe information should be disseminated. The best ways for them during a bushfire.
- Meeting with Police staff – what role do they have in dealing with journalists during bushfires?
- Meeting with local journalists

Literature review
Every year throughout the bushfire season in Victoria, difficulties arise surrounding the dissemination of information to the public. 2007 marked the tenth anniversary of the ABC working as official emergency broadcaster in Victoria. It is essential to investigate the effectiveness of the agreement and the way in which the relationship between the ABC and emergency services in Victoria can move forward. A successful policy will not only benefit the ABC, but emergency services staff and residents affected by bushfires in Victoria.

The field of research into media during emergencies is one which is discussed extensively in journals such as the Journal of Emergency Management. Once refined to bushfires, and again to Australia the writing becomes more and more scarce. Three academics who have completed comprehensive research into this field are Erez Cohen, Peter Hughes and Peter White from La Trobe University in Melbourne. The research of these three academics aligns closely with my own research and is excellent in providing detailed analysis of issues included within my scope.

The three academics cover issues including:
• A case study of the perceptions of the media during the Grampians bushfires
• The contentious issue of talkback radio
• Communications methods during bushfires
• Relationships between media and emergency services.

In their article entitled “The Media and Fire Services – Dealing with Conflicting Agendas” the three authors explore the common discourse that the media create myths around bushfires, using language that is exaggerated or hysterical. Through a case study of the media during the 2005 Wilsons Promontory Bushfires in South Eastern Victoria, Cohen, hughes and White come to the conclusion that the relationship between the media and emergency services is quite “complex and productive than earlier literature on this subject suggested.” (Cohen, Hughes and White, p107, 2007) They also conclude that the Australian concept of bushfires must change to aid in emergency situations. Australian’s must stop looking upon bushfires as “terrifying aberrations, an ineluctable, unpredictable act of god” and begin to see them as “an inherently Australian phenomenon that goes with the territory.” (Cohen, Hughes and White, p108, 2007) This notion is founded upon the idea that the media have created this discourse and they must assist in changing it.

Of great assistance to my own research, Cohen, Hughes and White interview many emergency services staff as well as journalists who reported on that particular bushfire. They found that many journalists believed the Country Fire Authority (CFA) to be more professional and of more assistance than the Department of Sustainability and Environment) DSE: “According to this journalist, DSE was manipulating the media on one front, facilitating media access to the fire so that journalists and photographers cojuld generate ‘great pictures’ but had to guess the ‘real story.’” (Cohen, Hughes and White, p112, 2007) This seems to be a recurring theme through my research.

Throughout many of their research articles, Cohen, Hughes and White discuss the role of the radio during bushfires. This information is critical to associate with my on research as my interviews will also be focussing on talkback radio and communications during bushfires. These authors argue that “radio, more than any other medium is considered as the best means for delivering timely safety information.” (Cohen, Hughes and White, p114, 2007) they raise this claim once again in another article entitled “Media and Bushfires: A community Perspective of the media during the Grampians fires 2006” when they argue that although newspaper information was extremely important, it became old news very fast and “in the immediate crisis of a fire emergency, radio is seen as the first place to go for information.” (Cohen, Hughes and White, p89, 2007) In particular, ABC radio is seen as the most credibly media during bushfires; “Local ABC radio is the only one that was doing anything for anybody because it was keeping us up to date…because everybody was busy doing their own things” (Male, small business owner, 45) (Cohen, Hughes and White, p92, 2007)

This particular article explores the use of the media from the community perspective during the bushfires that swept through the Grampians in Northern Victoria two years ago. Through the use of very similar methodologies to my own research such as focus groups and interviews, the authors investigate the importance of local knowledge in delivering effective information, the importance of a clear geographic focus of media coverage and the various effects of media coverage before, during and after the fire. This information will be invaluable to beginning my interviews and creating a position.

The authors explain in detail the ways in which they went about sourcing participants for local focus groups. They did this in three main ways:
1. Interview on local 774 Radio
2. Advertisements and articles in local newspapers
3. Networking through local emergency services staff and ABC staff
These are three techniques that will help me indefinitely throughout my research process. Issues may arise when participating in an interview on the radio as my knowledge may not be sufficient to appear as an expert on this issue, particularly when trying to connect with farmers who have local knowledge and expertise on handling bushfires.

The focus groups conducted by the authors covered issues such as the media and diverse sources of information, the importance of local knowledge in delivering effective information, the geographic focus of media coverage and the various effects of media coverage before during and after the fires. The authors identified a specific need within emergency reporting and that was the importance for the journalist to have in depth knowledge of the area. The focus group recognized several occasions when the reporter had given incorrect information about an area or person, which reduced the credibility of not only that journalist but that media outlet in general. This also connects to the theme of the geographic focus of a particular area. It was found that an out-of-town journalist might say “the fire is burning in the Anakie area”, but to locals who know the area know that this ‘area’ is very large and encompasses many kinds of terrain, bushland and communities. This information makes reporting bushfires difficult but highly important.

An issue I will be covering in my thesis will be an exploration of the need to cover small fires as well as larger public interest fires. The focus groups in the Grampians found locals to be much in need of this kind of reporting. Residents who are amidst a small local fire are still in need of information. What if the fire has spread in another direction? This is an issue that will be explored further later.

The importance of the radio during a bushfire was a major theme through the research of Cohen, Hughes and White. The radio has long been targeted as the predominant media during emergencies, for its mobility as well as access in remote areas. Radios are in cars, and can be hand held for people to carry them in to the bush; this makes them the ideal broadcasting tool to disseminate emergency information. This relates back to our major topic for this thesis and that is the role of the ABC as emergency broadcaster. It has now been 11 years since the memorandum of agreement was signed by emergency services and the ABC. This involves several key tasks that the ABC has agreed to be part of during not only bushfires, but all emergencies.